🔗 Share this article

Marking 20 years since the legendary game first launched across the Atlantic, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to become a rock star. Not literally, but try telling that anyone who's mastered Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.

Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of a genuine performance.

Harmonix had already tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, later acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable franchise which made a remarkable influence on numerous musicians included, introducing decades-old groups to millions of younger players.

Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games mostly used cover versions.

“We rerecorded every song because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. But once the game became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, all artists desired to be in.”

He continues: “One of the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for exposing their children to the songs they loved. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”

Timeless Music Finds Younger Fans

Irish blues-rock band the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived older hits to the forefront: “The game offered a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, however when it was included in the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the outdated tag. It provided all our music a new life.”

In 2008, the band's debut album was still not available stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the group as they went on US tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.

Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence

Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and related stories, visuals and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 copies in its first week, while demand for Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time when the music business faced decline.

The series continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. This track is challenging enough on expert mode, let alone played at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They stated it took months of practice to accomplish.

“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play other games, it doesn't imply you should use actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.

The band had already wrapped up a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”

In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it risked overshadow everything else accomplishments. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.

Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller

Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to do it”.

The majority installments were released over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.

Titles such as Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the community active, with set to be a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered production on their first music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?

“We thought such titles might become like Madden allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to persist with new generations.”